Slayers EVERLAST
by Pariah164
Summary: The gang is back in a whole new whirlwind adventure! Orcs, chimera and lecherous scumbags! Oh my! What will become of Lina and Company this time around? It all started with this princess... and her guardians... [Please be kind. Read and review.]


Slayers EVERLAST  
  
By Pariah164  
  
Chapter One  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Slayers! Plain and simple. Made up characters are mine. You'll know them when you see them.  
  
"Our princess is dying."  
  
These words echoed through the royal bedroom of Minerva, Princess of Tohrum, as her four gaurdians stood at her highness' bedside. "Who can save her?" asked the youngest one.   
  
"Be patient," said another, "We will find her."  
  
"Who is she?"  
  
"The savior, the destroyer...the One."  
  
"Is her will the strongest?"  
  
"Or course. After all, she is Lina Inverse..."  
  
OoOoOoOoOo  
  
The said sorceress was currently in the process of kicking some ass.   
  
"DIL BRAND!!" Lina cried, the earth underneath her opponent's feet exploding in a shower of rubble.The last man, battered and bruised, managed to utter a few final words.  
  
"Count...Hitori...wanted me...to deliver...this..." Afterward, he fell lifeless to the ground, a rose falling from his hand. Lina raised an eybrow, picking up the blood-stained white flower.   
  
"Interesting." she mused, "I heard I had admirers, but..." She scoffed, tossing the rose away with a flick of her wrist. She heard a moan from behind her, and turned to see Amelia struggling to stand up. "You gonna be okay?"  
  
"I think so, Miss Lina," her companion replied, black hair askew from the battle, "but you should check on Mister Gourry. He was hit pretty bad..." Lina's eyes widened as she ran to her wounded friend. She knelt down at the blond's side, picking his head up off the ground.  
  
"Gourry? Gourry! Come on, speak to me!" the young woman cried, patting his cheek. The man grunted, then opened one blue eye warily.  
  
"Lina..." Gourry murmered, his voice barely audible, "Did...we get em?" Lina nodded, her red eyes glistening with tears.  
  
"Yeah, Gourry. We got em."  
  
"...Lina?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Gourry looked at the tears rolling down her cheeks and asked, "Is it that time of the month for you again?" With a growl, Lina smacked him upside the head.   
  
"No, jellyfish brains!! What the hell would you know about that time of the month anyway?!"  
  
"I was just asking!" he insisted, the same clueless look reappearing on his boyish face.  
  
Amelia sighed. "Oh my...."  
  
It was gonna be one of those days.  
  
OoOoOoOoOo  
  
Elsewhere, the aforementioned Count Hitori sipped his coffee in amusement as he read the latest issue of the paper. "Those magic critics," he chuckled, "They always crack me up so much." He shook his head as one of his assistants appeared.   
  
"Sorry to disturb your morning routine, sire, but we have just received word that--" He was silenced as Hitori raised his hand.   
  
"I already know. Lina defeated them, right?" The lackey hesitated, the nodded. Hitori sighed, not out of disappointment, but admiration. "That's my sweet Lina," he said, "Full of life and energy." He picked up a portrait from his side table, tracing a finger lightly over the frame. "Mon ami..." he whispered, "Soon.....we'll be together."  
  
OoOoOoOoOo  
  
Lina yawned and stretched out her legs. The campfire burned bright in front of her face as she smiled, thinking about the day's events. 7 bandits, countless hustlers and one sorcerer, who had justly been Dragu Slaved back to the Dark Ages.  
  
Not bad for a day's work.  
  
Amelia finished frying a fish and handed it to Lina. "Miss Lina, here! Dinner!" Lina turned to the young princess and grinned.  
  
"Thanks, 'melia." The sorceress stuffed the fish into her mouth, spitting out the stick and bones. Gourry lumbered in then, carrying some wood. Lina raised an eyebrow at her daft friend. "What...are...you doing?"  
  
Gourry gave her his usual blank expression. "Putting more wood on the fire." There was silence, then a loud smacking sound as Lina slapped Gourry silly with a stick.   
  
"What kind of idiot are you?!" she cried, pointing to the aready immense pile of firewood the group had gathered, "We have enough wood here to last for days! We don't need to burn down the entire forest!!" After noting that she had successfully knocked Gourry out of consciousness, she sat back down in front of the fire, clearly miffed.   
  
Amelia, in the meantime, was distracted, staring at the eerie, empty space near the fire. "Miss Lina... do you think Mister Zelgadis will ever come back?" she asked softly, her normally cheerful eyes having a sad look to them. Lina broke out of her angry funk, crimson eyes softenting as she nodded to her young apprentice.  
  
"Of course," she replied, placing a hand on Amelia's shoulder gently, "You and I both know that he's as stubborn as an orc bandit. Nothing will keep him away from us." She flashed the brunette her trademark, impish grin. "Besides," she continued, "with fine looking ladies like us, how could he stay away?"  
  
Amelia smiled and nodded. "Right," she said softly, turning back to her dinner. Lina, however, wasn't so sure. It had been three months since Zelgadis left the group, claiming he had a lead on a cure for his condition. "Zel," Lina thought, "Even if you did find it, you'd come back... right?"  
  
OoOoOoOoOo  
  
The chimera, at the moment, was currently very, very irked. "Dammit," he growled, his cerulean hair poking out in four or five different directions. His stone body was almost impossible to scratch, to injure, but it sure could get dusty and dirty. He made a mental note to himself to torture Rezo thuroughly once he found this supposed cure. So far he had gone through three or four orcs, dwarven knights, a few sprites, and a dumber-than-dirt swordsman who could give Gourry a run for his money. "What next?" he grumbled, entering the cave he had been fighting to get into. The cave was dark, but a simple light spell lit up the dark, damp cavern. There were no inscriptions on the walls, or bats hanging around. It was actually one of the nicer caves the man had seen in his life.  
  
As the cave went on, the floor became smoother, as did the walls, the rock and dirt giving way to tile, marble, and other manmade materials. Zelgadis took use of the reflective light to gaze at his list. He had everything so far. The next items were the crystals, which only grew in this cave. He had said he would do anything for his cure, but the final three ingredients were all in temples, shrines, and even volcanoes. "That's going to be great," he muttered sarcastically.   
  
After another minute or so of walking, Zelgadis finally reached the end of his trek, and was in a large room, filled with marble, tile, gold, and other fine materials. In the center was a bush-like plant, the ice blue crystals sprouting from it. A faint smile crossed his lips as he tugged on some gloves, reaching for them. Just as he was about to grab it, he was interrupted.  
  
"Hold it!"  
  
Zelgadis flinched, turning to see a diminuative girl behind him. Her skin was green, her hair equally so, and she wore brown clothes made of what appeared to be animal skin. Her feet were bare, and a pair of translucent wings flapped upon her back. She was smaller than Lina, but tall enough to be at waist level with the chimera. She uses her wings to flutter up to eye level with him, looking highly irritated. "What do you think you're doing?" she cried, poking him in the shoulder, "Those crystals are powerful! I'm not gonna let you just take them!"  
  
Zelgadis frowned, letting out an 'argh' of frustration. "Why I need them is none of your business," he breathed, exasperated.   
  
With a frown, the faerie, in an impressive show of strength, grabbed the chimera by the collar and yanked him into a chair that had suddenly materialized in the room. "Get comfy," she said, crossing her arms, "You're gonna be here awhile."  
  
OoOoOoOoOo  
  
The night had passed smoothly, morning coming far too soon for her sorceress and friends as they continued down the path. Gourry was holding the map, which Lina realized was a lapse of sleep-deprived judgement on her part, when they arrived at a place they had never seen before. It apeared to be a large city, almost rivaling that of Amelia's home of Seirun. A large castle stood in the center, surrounded by four tall towers. The city was all around it, all in the shape of circles. Where the slayers stood was across from it, standing near the edge of the water that ran around the entire city.  
  
"Where the hell are we?!" Lina growled, smacking Gourry upside the head once again.   
  
"On the border of the kingdom of Tohrum," a sweet voice replied.  
  
Lina grinned. "Wow, Amelia," she says, admiration in her voice, "You're really smart."  
  
Amelia's face furrowed into a confused expression. "Miss Lina, that wasn't me."  
  
There was a pause. "Then...who?" Lina murmured.  
  
"It was me."  
  
The trio turned around to see a young girl standing behind them, giggling. Her chocolate brown hair was tied away from her face in two pigtails, her red top seeming to be boung by a light orange scarf. the pink skirt and red hearts decorating her boots screamed cute, as did her pine green eyes twinking in the morning sunlight. A strange staff with a crystal atop it swung behind her, like a pendulum. "I was hoping you'd find your way here," she said with a smile, "It saves me work."  
  
Lina frowned; whenever someone was looking for her, it usually meant trouble in one way or another. "Oh, really?" she asked, "And who might you be?"  
  
The girl smiled and gave a small curtsy. "My full name is Meiko Flarea Downing, but you can call me Meiko or Mei-chan." She walked forward some. "You must be the famous Lina Inverse."  
  
Amelia chuckled. "More like infamous." This remark resulted in a light bap to the head from the sorceress.   
  
Meiko's eyes changed to take on a more desperate look. "Please, Lina-san," the girl began, "You must save our princess, the ruler of Tohrum."  
  
Lian sighed heavily. "So what is the damsel's distress?" she asked, sounding as if saving princesses was far too routine, "Is a dragon holding her captive? She being forced into marriage? Is there a trhreat to her life?"  
  
Meiko shook her head. "She's being turned into crystal," she said softly, "from the feet up... we don't know why. But we know you can find out!" As the girl spoke, her shadow seemed to grow, till it finally lifted off the ground, beginning to sneak up on the girl. Lina was too tired to notice,and Gourry, jellyfish that he was, was staring out into the distance.So all three of them jumped when Amelia suddenly cried out.  
  
"ELMEKIA LANCE!" the princess hollered, attacking the shadow. The shadow seemed to whither before going back to where it belonged. Lina, now fully awake, stepped forward. "OK!" she yelled, "Who's there?!"   
  
A maniacal laugh was heard, but the source was still hidden. "Ha ha ha! And you call yourselves great- YAAAARGH!" The mystique was shattered with the sound of a branch breaking, and a mass of black cape falling from a tree, landing with an unsettling 'thwump' on the ground. For a few moments, the pile twitched, not getting up. All of the group watched, a bit awestruck (in a 'what the hell kind of an idiot is this guy' way) as the figure finally stood up, his back to them. He cracked his neck, then turned around.  
  
His grin was brilliant white, his light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. His clothes and cape, though covered in dirt, were almost all black, save for the white blouse he wore underneath it all. As his cerulean orbs rested on Lina, a grin spread upon his lips. He bowed, an odd move, while Lina silently asked 'what the hell?' with her facial expession. "Forgive me," said the male, "for startling you, but it was you that startled me. Your beauty is absolutely radiant." He began to walk forward, his boots crunching the earth beneath him. "Though," he continued, "I cannot fully grasp why you dyed your hair."   
  
Lina growled softly. "Whaddya mean dyed?" she hissed, "This color is natural, you dumb little shit!"  
  
The stranger silenced her with a wave of his hand. "Please," he begged softly, "If you keep talking with that sweet voice, I will not have aenough courage to say what I need to say." He was now directly in front of her, lowering to one knee and placing a hand on his chest. "I, Count Hitori, wish to take your hand in marriage," he said, thick emotion in his voice as he grabbed one of Lina's gloved hands. "Please, save your tears. I know this must make you feel... overwhelmed." He looked up at the sorceress with pleading eyes.  
  
For a moment, there was a dead silence. And then...  
  
"FIREBALL!!"  
  
...TO BE CONTINUED... 


End file.
